By CNA staff
Drug gangs in Ecuador have responded to government efforts to retake prisons by launching a series of attacks, adding the use of car bombs, which have left several people dead, in addition to five policemen.
In an effort to quell the violence, on November 4, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso extended the state of emergency in the provinces of Las Guayas and Esmeraldas from November 2 to the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsichilas. 1.
The state of emergency suspends for forty-five days the rights to freedom of assembly and assembly, inviolability of the home and non-public correspondence. The decrees of November 1 and 4 also identify a curfew from nine at night to five in the morning.
In a Nov. 5 statement, the Ecuadorian bishops called on criminal gangs to prevent violence and take the path of conversion.
“The power, the money you have now from so many filthy companies, from so many mafia-type crimes, is blood money. . . Convert; There is still time to end up in hell. This is what awaits you if you continue on this path,” they warned, quoting the words of Pope Francis.
They also called on politicians and social actors to seek the welfare of others and not partisan interests. “Much depends on political and social action so that the mafias do not fill their ranks with the poor,” the bishops said.
After expressing their solidarity with the families of the victims, the prelates said that “each of us will have to give an account only to history and to God himself for his actions. “
“It is time for national unity, to rebuild the social pact that unites us and to fight this not unusual enemy that is organized crime. . . that seeks to destroy the greatest precious treasure that we have, our young people and our young people, and that discovers fertile soil in a society in which, unfortunately, poverty and inequality seem to have no end,” the bishops said.
The Ecuadorian bishops announced on Sunday, November 6, a day of prayer in all parishes, chapels and oratories to ask God for peace and an end to violence in the country.
The bishops requested that the following prayer be presented that day:
“Almighty and merciful God, Lord of the universe and of human history. Everything you have created is good, and your compassion for man, who forsakes you, is inexhaustible.
“We come today to implore you to protect Ecuador and its other peoples with peace, driving away destructive waves of violence, restoring friendship and pouring into the hearts of your creatures the gift of accepting as true with and the will to forgive.
“Giver of life, we also pray for all those who have died, victims of brutal criminal acts. Grant them praise and eternal joy. May they intercede for Ecuador, shaken by anguish and misfortune.
“Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray for those who have been injured in attacks by criminal gangs: young and young, women and men, elderly, innocent and those who have been randomly attacked. Heal their bodies and hearts; May they feel strengthened by your comfort. Remove from them hatred and a preference for revenge.
“Holy Spirit Comforter, scale in families who mourn the loss of their loved ones, innocent victims of violence and drug trafficking. Cover them with the mantle of your Divine Mercy. May they find in you the strength and courage to continue being brothers. and sisters to others, witnessing to your love with their lives.
“It moves the hearts of the violent so that they recognize the evil of their movements and resume the path of peace and goodness, respect for the life and dignity of each and every human being.
“God, the Eternal Father, heed with compassion this prayer that rises to you in the midst of the roar and depression of Ecuador. Mother, we turn to you with wonderful hope, imploring the gift of peace and begging you to remove from us the scourge of violence. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
This story was first published through ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language press partner. It has been translated and adapted through CNA.